Reality
by Mrs. Wilbur Robinson
Summary: What happens when Lewis and Wilbur take a turn for the realistic? After a botched dimension jump, the duo finds themselves almost completely stranded in the year 2527, and they're not the 3D characters you remember.
1. Pulse

**_A/N: Me and my great friend Lyssa (aka, River4Jayne) came up with an absolutely super plot last week. Couldn't stop me talking about it. For a while I couldn't put fingers to keyboard because I was convinced my writing would ruin the story, how it was all planned out in my head, but I'm over that now. Haha...both yummy boys are in their very early twenties. Sci-fi fans with good taste will recognise some twists later on in the story, and I strongly recommend anyone who hasn't to go rent out 'Serenity' right now. Please review, it only takes a moment to describe your feelings on where this is headed. If I make any errors, please point them out so I can correct them before it gets continued. I don't own anything you will recognise in this story._**

**_Enjoy :)_**

* * *

Wilbur chewed his gum thoroughly, watching Lewis' long legs poking from underneath the blue Time Machine. Metallic noises wafted through the vast garage, and Wilbur sighed, deciding that he might as well go through their equipment...again.

_Okay...rations for a week...check. Lewis' trusty tool kit, the multi-frequency radio, check, check. Enough water to satisfy a camel for a month...pillows, rugs, clothes, toiletries, books, music...all set. I can't believe it's all managed to fit down the back seat,_ he thought. Task completed, Wilbur resumed his slouched position on the back seat of the craft with their supplies, absently listening to his father tinkering underneath.

"Leeeeeeeeeeeewis..." he called, bored out of his brain, blowing a bubble with his gum. The clanking noises stopped, and a grease-covered Lewis rolled out from the Time Machine with a stern expression Wilbur knew very well.

"Wilbur. What we are going to test today can wind up being of the most complicated, scientific and downright historical events mankind will ever achieve. If I screw this up...well, I'm not gonna go there. I'm nearly done, but I need your cooperation. So shut it, please, and let me work." He scooted back underneath, picking his hand-held scanner up again.

Wilbur slid down one of the V-shaped wings on his stomach, curiously sticking his head in the small space between the floor and the craft. Lewis had attached wires absolutely everywhere, and clear bolts of multicoloured light shot through every cord visible. It looked like a mini fireworks display, contained within the hundreds of tubes. Wilbur had inquired about the lights once, and the confused state Lewis had left him in after their talk made certain that he never asked anything again.

The scanner suddenly started beeping loudly, and a bright green flooded the display panel as a crystal in the Machine's center console began to glow. Lewis grinned.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a go."

"Finally," Wilbur grunted, hoisting himself back up. Lewis rolled his eyes and began pulling numerous wires from their sockets on the scanner. Wiping his face and hands with an old rag, he stood up and beamed at his modified invention with hands on hips. Wilbur groaned, reaching into the front seat to honk the horn.

"Oi!"

"_What,_ Wilbur?"

"Move it! We don't have all day here."

Lewis smirked. "Actually, we have all the time in the world. What's your rush?"

"Nothing, but I figured that the date you have with my mother tonight shouldn't have to be put on hold, just because you can't take your eyes off a glowing crystal that is possibly a milestone in human history." Lewis raised an eyebrow. _Wilbur wants to leave early so I can have ample time to get ready for a date? Please. _"That, and I'm bored." _Ah. That makes much more sense. _He sighed, and hit the remote for the garage door.

No one knew about their 'little' project, which had Lewis contained within his laboratory for months, researching and building and obsessing. It was a theory, just a theory, which wasn't to be tested...until today. Hugh Everett had idea that parallel universes or alternative realities existed- and Lewis wanted to go there. To a self-contained separate reality coexisting with their own, which could defy the very laws of nature, where anything anyone could imagine might be real. To Everett, measuring a quantum object does not force it into one comprehensible state or another. Instead, it causes an actual split in the universe. The universe is literally duplicated, splitting into one universe for each possible outcome from a decision or situation.

He'd heard of the possibility, and had been hooked. Wilbur had arrived late one night at the lab in the time machine, approximately half a year ago, which got Lewis' head spinning further. He had the idea that they could modify the time machine, based upon the concept of time being a dimension in itself. Wilbur knew absolutely nothing about quantum physics, but wanted in on the trip. Last night Lewis had had a breakthrough in his discoveries, and the boys were all set to test the machine. Just in case their return was delayed, Lewis had ordered Wilbur to make himself useful and pack some essentials. A comb and chargeball glove were sitting on the dashboard.

"Everything's here?"

"Yes sir," Wilbur grinned, grabbing hold of the steering wheel.

"Oh no, you don't," Lewis admonished, shoving his son aside to sit in the driver's seat. Wilbur pouted, a strange sight to see when it was a 22 year old man pulling the face. Lewis closed the hatch, sealing themselves in the time machine and placing his hand in the gel-pad where the ignition key should be. It was a safety measure put in place after it had been stolen from the future, and the panel lit up as the device recognised his palm. Lewis expertly maneuvered the craft out of the garage into the morning sunrise, both men squinting in the golden rays. They flew up, up, into the low-hanging clouds, around in a large circle until they were directly above the miniscule Robinson mansion. Lewis looked over at Wilbur, and bit his lip.

"I give this a five percent chance of actually working."

"And if it doesn't...?"

"I don't know. But if you don't want a part in this, now's your chance." Wilbur laughed as if his best friend was a lunatic, and slapped his shoulder.

"Are you joking? There is no way you're going _anywhere _remotely cool without me. This is going to work, I know it. I'm from the future, right? Dad's still fine, I mean, you are, and perfectly happy. So we don't die or anything. He just won't tell me about it."

"Exactly my point. I would write about my experience at least, because if this works..." he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "And the future changes, Wil. What Cornelius went through might be different to what we will experience, because you are here with me. Did he mention _anything _at all?"

Wilbur thought for a moment. "He said...uhm, it was really weird, I remember thinking that...oh yeah, he said; 'Pick the red one.' I have absolutely no idea what that means, or the context, so don't bother asking. I guess we'll find out, hey?"

Lewis nodded uneasily, and reached over to open a hatch in the middle of the front seat. A handle directly connected to the crystal below, and he placed a shaky hand on it.

"Three..." Wilbur gripped his seat until his knuckles turned white.

"Two..." Lewis shut his eyes tightly.

"One..."

He pushed the handle down.

The craft roared into life, and a large multicoloured bubble formed, twisting and spinning around them. A high-pitched noise reverberated around the machine, getting louder by the second. Six golden lasers of light shot from apparent 'corners' of the bubble, passing straight through the terrified men to connect in the centre console. The whole craft was shaking, the piercing noise was growing louder, building up into a crescendo.

"Lewis!" Wilbur screamed, his voice barely heard over the din. Lewis couldn't answer, words failed him. The shrill noise reached such a pitch that Wilbur fainted, and Lewis yelled in agony as his ears started bleeding. The lights flashed around him, dazzling him, until his retinas had the image burned onto them. It seemed like the craft couldn't take any more, when it happened.

The crystal pulsed. A wave of scorching blue light encased everything in the bubble, filling every corner as the light continued to spin and Lewis held on weakly to consciousness. As suddenly as it started, everything went. Literally. The noise stopped, the multicoloured bubble burst, and a tremendous _crack _echoed around the town as space and sunlight rushed in to fill the rip in the universe, once filled by two young men.

They were gone.

* * *


	2. Crash

* * *

They were spinning. Just like before, but this was different. The ground was rushing up to claim the craft, and Lewis struggled to hold onto the steering wheel. He had no idea where they were, little clue as to what just happened, but he knew that if he didn't pull up soon everything would end rather fast. Screwing his eyes shut against the powerful, rapid rotations, Lewis wrenched the controls, crying out as his shoulder gave in to the physical effort and popped clean out of its socket. He gritted his teeth as his eyes watered, but with the other arm, managed to pull the time machine upwards.

He collapsed on the dashboard, breathing heavily, eyes still shut tight. _Did we make it? _He thought distractedly, still not daring to look up or at Wilbur's hand resting on his lap. He coughed, listening to the gentle patter of rain on the craft outside. _Well, we either moved a heck of a lot, or the weather's gone crazy and we haven't budged an inch._ Raising his head off the dashboard, Lewis slowly cracked his eyes open to look at Wilbur. What he saw freaked the hell out of him.

"ARRRGH!"

Wilbur immediately woke up, sitting up and blinking as he winced at the noise on his ears. He looked over at the other person scrambling in the 'craft, and nearly fainted again.

They were _definitely _in a parallel reality, that was for sure. Lewis was hyperventilating as he looked down at his own body. Everything was so..._detailed_, was all he could think. Shadows were made at every slight crease in his skin, and the familiar smoothness that was usually his arm seemed so different, and he examined every pore and every miniscule freckle. He reached up to feel his face, his hair, but stopped when he caught sight of Wilbur staring at him with wide eyes. Eyes that couldn't possibly be the same.

"Holy..." Wilbur whispered, moving over so they could look each other up and down. It was indescribably themselves, yet diverse enough to creep them out. Wilbur's hair wasn't as shiny and perfect, his skin wasn't so flawless, his neck not so skinny, but in such a strange way that it looked...right. Meant to be. His chest was broader and his hips wider, legs weren't skinny as sticks, but his brown eyes remained pretty much the same. Wilbur reached out and touched his father's young face in wonder, still not finding the words to describe how unnerved he felt.

Lewis' nose wasn't quite so prominent, and his hair was more straw-blond than in their reality. It was still straight as ever, but didn't seem to really 'defy gravity' in this universe. It was longer, not higher, and reached a fair way down past his ears. The long blonde strands curved over his hairline, a couple hanging down over his forehead so they fell into his bright blue eyes. Both young men had fuller lips, but they weren't feminine like the women they knew, and their ears didn't seem to stick out as much. Lewis was still lean and wiry as ever, but it suited him well in this reality...wherever it was. The two guys stopped breathing so deeply, but couldn't take their eyes from each other. It was too much to take in.

"You OK?" Lewis finally asked, searching for his glasses which had fallen off his face.

"What?"

"I said, are you OK?" Lewis said again, a little louder.

"Yeah...I think. God, this is weird," Wilbur muttered, fishing the completely mutilated pair of lenses out from underneath him. Lewis groaned and started to climb into the backseat for another pair, cursing at his injured shoulder. "What happened?" Wilbur inquired, rubbing at his sore ears.

"We were headed for a crash landing when we arrived. Took quite an effort to pull up," Lewis replied, opening a backpack with difficulty. "Find a safe place to park, alright? I need to check a couple things before we attempt that again." Wilbur nodded, sliding into the front seat and glancing around at the enormous storm clouds surrounding them. They were above an ocean, the dark chopping waves in stark contrast with the sinking rays of the sun on the very distant horizon. He looked at his watch in confusion, to see it had stopped working.

"Why _this _reality?" Wilbur asked his father, who momentarily stopped his search to try and explain things in layman's terms.

"Because it was the closest one to our own universe," He answered, and sat back in the seat.

"What about when we go back?"

"It'll be our own one."

Wilbur breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Found any glasses?"

"No, but these contacts will have to do. They're so damn uncomfortable though." Lewis paused. "Everything looks so different...but still the same...it's like seeing through a new pair of eyes."

"I feel the same way. Does _everything _here look so...I dunno...precise? Detailed?"

"Yep." Getting a sudden thought, Lewis pulled his wallet from his jeans and flicked it open. The picture of Franny made him stare open-mouthed. He had taken it on the morning after he'd proposed, and her beaming, glowing face made her already gorgeous looks seem angelic. It was his absolute favourite photo, even though her hair was all messed up from his wandering hands and her pajama top was falling from her flawless shoulder. The picture still had exactly the same composition, but it was so...graphic, so vivid, that he couldn't help but gape, swallowing the small noise of longing that attempted to leave his throat.

"What?"

"...Uh...you wouldn't be interested."

"Is it mum?" Wilbur grinned, leaning over the front seat to snatch the wallet from Lewis. He burst out laughing when he saw his mother. "Hahaha!...Wow...she looks kinda hot, actually..."

Lewis snorted, snatching back his wallet with his good arm. "You're sick." Wilbur frowned indignantly, and opened his mouth to reply.

Instead, a colossal _BOOM _echoed around the craft as the heavens opened and rain poured down by the gallon on the tiny machine. Wilbur jumped a whole foot high at the sudden sound, whacking his head on the top of the capsule. Lewis' eyes went wide as Wilbur fell back on the dashboard, activating the time machine controls.

"WILBUR!" Lewis yelled, as his son realised his mistake. But it was too late.

Two seconds later, the boys arrived in the year 2527, in a world they were totally unprepared for.

* * *

**_I'm kinda taking the fanfic term 'alternate reality' a bit further, aren't I? Haha. Is it just me, or does everyone else also luuurve the idea of our two favourite boys stumbling into 'real life'? -Happy sigh- Next chapter up as soon as my buddy has a read thru!_**


	3. Solo

* * *

"Lewis, hold still."

"What are you doing...?"

"An excellent question. Just hold still. It'll all be over in a sec."

"Oh no you don't. Oh, no no no no no-"

_Snap_.

"ARGH! Bugger it, Wilbur! I could have done it myself!" Lewis yelled, kicking the back of the seat in pain as he clamped his hand tightly around his newly fixed shoulder. Wilbur raised an eyebrow.

"Reeeally? How about a 'thankyou, my darling Wil, for showing the compassion to do something sweet and loving for me?'"

Lewis stopped swearing and looked strangely over at his son, breathing heavily. "Are you...OK?"

Wilbur laughed as he pulled the strings on his army boots tighter. They had landed in a deserted clearing, a few miles from a settlement that had been visible from the atmosphere. After a few hours' of restless sleep, the duo had decided to try and make some form of contact with the locals.

"Tell me again why we can't just go home? I'm willing to sacrifice my ears again, I just want out. Everything's too weird." Wilbur prodded his chest for the seventh time that morning, and flexed his fingers while pulling a face.

Lewis sighed, and opened the control panel which previously housed the blue crystal. It was a blue puddle of shimmering waste, melted down to a shapeless mass.

"We're gonna need a new one. As for the time jumping...this machine, it isn't like a yoyo. We can't keep going back and forth all the time without eventually unravelling the time stream. It's best to wait at least a week or so, ideally. There's also the issue of power. That dimension jump can't have done the ship any good. Anyway, now we're here, there isn't much point going back until we get a new crystal. And I figure that this time period will probably be more advanced, so we have better chances. You savvy?"

Wilbur nodded, rolling his eyes slowly as he finished with his boots. Lewis was attempting to put his contacts in, which was usually hilarious, and Wilbur would annoy the heck out of his father by imitating some of the stupid expressions he would pull for the rest of the day, or until Lewis grounded him. Lewis paused, and looked around at Wilbur with thought lines crinkling his forehead.

"You do realise what we've forgotten to bring, right...?"

Wilbur thought for a minute. "What, Franny? She would have beaten us both to a pulp by now in worry." Lewis pursed his lips, trying to be as serious as possible, which was made hard by Wilbur's presence.

"Weapons."

Wilbur whipped his head up to stare at Lewis nervously. "You...you think that we'll need em?"

Lewis shrugged, then winced, still cradling his shoulder. "Wilbur, we're in an _alternate reality_. We have no idea what kind of lifestyle these people live!"

Wilbur mulled this over, then picked up his Chargeball glove expertly, swinging it around before holding it like a gun. "What about this?"

"Does it even work here?" Lewis asked doubtfully.

Wilbur pointed it at a nearby tree, and fired. His glove sputtered and flickered, before dying. "Well, that's useless."

"Yeah...c'mon, let's go. We'll just...have to make do, I guess. Don't say _anything _unless I tell you to, get it?" Lewis commanded, rubbing his eyes as he stretched. Wilbur nodded, jumping from the blue time machine into the patchy grass below. Lewis followed, still looking at his 'new' limbs in wonder. Taking a remote from his pocket, he shut the time machine roof and turned the cloaking shield on, effectively rendering it invisible. There was a remote tracking device encased in the remote, which would ensure that they could make their way back. The two young men set out, trudging in silence as they both took in the sights around them.

This Earth was much the same as the one they had left behind a few centuries ago, with a few exceptions. The sun was hotter (Lewis guessed that if the same rules applied here, it would be from the weakened ozone layer), there was more dirt than grass, more rocks than trees, lots of scattered ruins, and something Lewis couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Wait."

Wilbur stopped, and picked up a large stick from the ground. Holding it like a lightsaber, he looked over at his father. "What?" He whispered, peering at the landscape around them.

"Can you hear anything?"

"...No."

"Exactly."

Wilbur hated when his father spoke in riddles, and he knew his mother did too. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"No birds, no wildlife. Something's wrong."

"Oh. Maybe it's just this area...?" Wilbur said quietly, straining his ears for any kind of animal life.

"I highly doubt that. How long do you reckon it's gonna take to walk to the settlement? It's scorching out here."

Wilbur flicked his watch, as if it would somehow fix it. "My guess is about an hour."

Lewis groaned. "Why did we have to park so damn far away?" He mumbled, tripping over a low bush. Wilbur smirked, striding over the ground like he owned the place. Lewis continued, "We've got time to think, so…what's our cover story? We're bound to stand out a bit. Might be good to come up with new names, too. Or last names, at any rate."

They walked in silence for a minute, both thinking about the possibilities. Wilbur was the first to interrupt their musings.

" 'The names Bond. Wilbur, Bond.' "

Lewis laughed, shaking his blonde mop of hair out of his eyes. "I can imagine that. Surname doesn't suit you though. What about…Darcy? You know, Fitzwilliam Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Bit of a ladies' man."

"I can't believe you've seen that movie."

"Worse, actually. I read the book." Lewis blushed, hands in his pockets with his head down. "Franny left it in my lab, and it was just lying there..."

"…begging to be read? You're such a nerd. I bet Franny had nothing to do with it, and you picked it up from the library." Wilbur sniggered, chucking Lewis on the shoulder.

"Shut it, you."

"Haha. What about, I keep Robinson, because I'm a trillion times more likely to forget whatever name I pick, and we decide on something for you?"

Lewis smiled, shielding his sparkling sapphire eyes from the sun's glare. "I don't suppose 'Framagucci' would be suitable?" He grinned.

Wilbur rolled his eyes. "Nope. Too much like a handbag. Or some kind of cappuccino…don't tell Franny I said that."

* * *

One hour and twenty minutes later, the duo finally reached the outskirts of the city. It looked incredible. Massive spiralling towers loomed over them, hovercrafts lined the streets, and highly developed technology seemed to be present in excess everywhere. Except for one tiny, insignificant detail, the place would have been Lewis' dream home. It was completely abandoned. Growth had sprouted and creeped over the old buildings, but even stranger, everything seemed pretty much intact.

"This is bad. This is really, extremely, exceedingly, surpassingly bad," Lewis whispered, as they walked down what seemed like the highway. Wilbur didn't like the scared tone of his father's voice, not one bit.

"I'm not really seeing what's so horrible, Lew."

"Don't you understand?! This entire city, this massive, colossal metropolitan area is completely abandoned. The reason could be anything. Their might have been a deadly virus or disease, which we've already contracted. It could have been some form of monster, which might explain all the other missing life. There could be extremely high levels of radiation, or something we can't see. There could be -" His nervous ranting was interrupted by Wilbur, who silenced him with a look.

"I get it, Lewis. So what are we gonna do?"

"I…don't know. I just don't know."

Wilbur sighed, running a hand through his hair which had already been ruffled up by the wind- something he wasn't at all used to. "We might as well try and find something useful. Could be there's materials here you could fashion a new crystal with."

"Wilbur, I can't just pull a dimension jumping outlet out of my armpit! It takes a whole month to specifically modify the crystal, and that's with all the equipment I had back at home! You have to accept that this…is gonna take a while. A long while."

Wilbur watched his friend sit down dejectedly in the middle of the street, cradling his head in his hands.

The wind whistled around the silent pair, and the quiet stretched on.

Wilbur made a decision. He walked off, intent on the nearest building. All the lettering and words spelt along the walls and signs looked Chinese, but he had no idea what they said. Glancing around, he noticed that it wasn't just that shop, but everywhere he looked the language was similar to Chinese. _Weird_, he thought absently, climbing through the broken window of what resembled an electrical store.

"Wilbur?" He heard Lewis call from the road.

"In here!" He yelled, picking up a gizmo from an extremely dust-laden shelf. Putting it back delicately, he walked behind the counter and examined all the tools in various boxes. Whoever owned the place seemed to have had enough time to pack, before deserting the building. _You would think that they'd take some of this stuff with them,_ he thought. Wilbur curiously pressed what appeared to be an intercom button, and to his great surprise, static gushed through the speaker, echoing around the empty store. Lewis jumped through the window a second later, looking with wide eyes at his friend.

"What are you doing?" He hissed, grabbing Wilbur's arm.

"Can you hear that?" Wilbur whispered in reply, yanking his arm from Lewis' grip to press the button down again. Static poured around the room, making both boys wince.

"Hear _what_, Wilbur?!"

"Listen!"

There was a slight anomaly in the noise, like a beeping sound, about every seven seconds. Lewis blinked, thinking quickly.

"…Did you see a radio in here? Like, some kind of communicator?"

"No, I didn't look all that much. Why?"

"This is important. That noise repeats, so it could be some kind of beacon, distress signal, anything. But it might give us some answers as to what's happened here, and I don't know how long it might last. C'mon, help."

The two young men snapped into action, Wilbur starting on one side on the shop, Lewis on the other. It wasn't long before Wilbur was thoroughly fed up, and Lewis began having the time of his life.

"Ooh, look at this! And people think _I'm_ smart. Wow…hey, I think this might be some form of phone…these could come in handy if we get separated. I have to remember these designs, imagine what Robinson Industries could do with them. Wil, found anything interesting?"

Wilbur shrugged, nearing the back of the shop. He picked up a set of round, egg shaped devices with small holes and buttons, promptly dropped the lot back on the shelf, and moved on to the next object. _Wait a second_, he mused, his eyes returning to the gadgets. "Lewis…here."

"What? Where?" The other boy called, racing around to see the device. He grabbed one, turning it over in his hands. "Yes! Good spotting, Wil. I highly doubt the power source is still active, there's probably some form of batteries around here somewhere…" Lewis trailed off, looking around the store. Wilbur tossed one of the coms around in his palm, looking over the buttons. Pressing down on the prominent black one, the communicator sparked into life. Lewis stared at the tiny machine, then at Wilbur.

"But…this place has been deserted for years upon years…"

"The intercom worked, right? Technology has advanced, Lewis, you can't expect everything to still rely on electricity."

Lewis smiled at his son, activating a com of his own. "Stupid old me."

The faint beeping noise could now be heard again, and started to distort and warp as Lewis adjusted the signal. After another four painstaking minutes, a distant computer-generated monotone voice could be distinguished. It was a young woman.

"New co-ordinates: Core planet X321G, 2TYS at 67HY8. Transmission date, 2478."

Lewis sat down as the voice repeated itself in a foreign language, lost in thought. Wilbur cleared his throat after a full minute of nothing but the woman's voice.

"Lewis? Feel free to share any insight you have here. Annnnny time."

Lewis looked up, a dazed expression coating his features. "I never would have guessed…"

"What?"

"Everyone here is gone. I would be surprised if there were any remaining citizens at all on Earth. Didn't you hear? 'New co-ordinates, Core Planet X3-something-something.'"

Wilbur's eyes widened. "New planet? As in, spaceships? You reckon everyone's just packed up and moved…world? But…why? That's crazy."

"And it gives co-ordinates of the planet…it must be a fully-fledged civilisation by now, this recording was made about half a century ago…"

"So, what?"

Lewis looked up at Wilbur with a calculated grin. "Looks like we're in for a lot more than we expected, hey? The Time Machine's gonna need a lot more modifications, we're not going in anything else, it's too risky to leave it here…one of us will have to go back and get it, we can start gathering the tools I'm gonna need-" Wilbur held his hands up in a time-out.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold the phone! You wanna actually go there? We don't even know where this planet is! The time machine isn't built for space travel!" He argued, pacing the dusty floor.

"It wasn't built for parallel reality jumping either, but it's easily done both," Lewis retorted, clipping the communicator onto his belt. Wilbur sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's just…I want to go home," he said in a small voice.

Lewis looked up. His face softened, and he walked over to stand in front of Wilbur. "C'mon, this'll be fun. You're always the one complaining about how we don't get out enough. How much more out can you get on a different planet?" He smiled gently as he wrapped an arm around Wilbur's shoulders, but inwardly he was agreeing with his son. _I want to go home too_.

* * *

**_Reviews make me write seven times faster, it's been scientifically proven. wink_**


	4. One month

Wilbur gunned the motor, accelerating until the hovercraft he was steering started to shake from the strain.

"Ya_hooooo_!" He hollered, as the craft almost totalled itself rounding a tight corner. He expertly guided the machine down the highway ramp and over the dry riverbed, grinning at the powerful feeling of adrenaline rushing through his veins.

The duo had been camped on Earth for a month now. Their home base was the large electronic shop they'd found the communicator's in, which had proved useful for many of their exploration missions.

It didn't take long for Lewis to restore the primary functions on Wilbur's choice of hover car (a dark blue shade with black stripes), as soon as they got their hands on the specific blueprints of the machine. Once Wilbur had first sat behind the wheel, the only thing which could remove him were the food bribes Lewis offered every six hours or so.

The edible food they'd found came from a silo in the heart of town, packaged in military-issued bags. The fancier meals were basically programmable flavour sachets that could be heated up, enough to sustain a grown man for a whole day. The easiest and most convenient form of meal, which Lewis had lived on since day 2. Wilbur had refrained from eating the food until their own supplies completely ran out, and was still a bit iffy about how the food always tasted exactly what he was craving for.

The entire city became extremely disquieting at night, so Lewis had opted to sleep in the sealed time machine's back seat until the area was properly explored. Wilbur had then proceeded to call him 'chicken' the whole day until midnight, when he began imagining distant noises inside the city and couldn't sleep. Lewis had been quite amused when he was woken at one in the morning by Wilbur frantically knocking on the machine's glass screen, blanket wrapped tightly over his shoulders and eyes wide and red. No more incidents had occurred since then, but both guys still chose to bunk in the time machine.

About four days after their arrival, Lewis and Wilbur had driven into what appeared to be the graveyard of spaceships.

_Flashback_

"WILBUR! SLOW DOWN, FOR PETE'S SAKE!" Lewis screamed, holding the seat in a vice-like grip. Wilbur laughed, and coaxed even more speed from the whining engine, turning to grin at Lewis' face .

"Pretty neat, huh?"

"LOOK WHERE YOU'RE GOING, IF YOU INSIST ON DRIVING AT THIS LUDICROUS SPEED, YOU IDIOT!"

Wilbur rolled his eyes. "You're over-reacting, Lewis," he said conversationally as they skidded around yet another boulder just past the edge of town. The tail of the 'craft clipped the edge, the impact at that speed driving Wilbur straight into Lewis and very nearly tipping the whole machine on its side. Once the dust cloud had settled, Wilbur slowly climbed from the blonde's lap as Lewis glared daggers at him. "As I was saying…" Wilbur whistled softly, looking anywhere but at his best mate.

"I think I'll walk." Lewis muttered, unstrapping himself, promptly leaping over the car door.

"You're kidding me. The shop's over ten miles away!"

"I'd rather die of thirst out here than get impaled by your head again," Lewis called grumpily, hands in pockets, head bowed. Wilbur sighed, starting the car back up again and floating over to his father.

"Don't be like this, I'll stay under 300 if you want. You can drive back…? Lewwwwis…?" Wilbur pleaded, opening the side door with the flick of a button. Lewis stopped, closing his eyes and leaning his head back.

"I get your pillows tonight."

Wilbur scowled. Lewis had been having back problems ever since their arrival, and the boys would swap essential chores and food items for each others'. Lewis required about four pillows until he was happy, so Wilbur was bound to have quite a few sleepless nights in the near future. "One pillow."

"Both, or I'm going right now," Lewis said, and continued walking. Wilbur rolled his eyes.

"What makes you think I really care?"

"Because you don't know the way back. You were lost in the city for five hours yesterday before I found you."

Wilbur huffed. The annoying thing was, Lewis was right. As usual. "Just get in."

"So, deal?"

"…Yes."

Lewis grabbed the door handle and swung himself back in, making sure that his seatbelt was quite secure before flicking on one of the gadgets around his waist.

"No more detours this time. Or else."

"Hey, you said yourself that that rock was interesting."

"I didn't want to hurt your feelings. More west," Lewis reached over to guide the steering wheel.

"I got it. Aren't we near that blob that came up on the scanner thing you found?"

Lewis groaned. "NO. Forget it. It's probably just another pile of rocks or something. We can check it later."

"Why check it out later when we're so close now? Won't take but a minute."

Lewis propped his elbow up on the door so he could bury his face in his hand, and sighed. "Isn't their some kind of rulebook which says that annoying kids have to listen to their dads?"

Wilbur smirked. "Technically, I'm older than you. So it kinda cancels out. Sorry bucko," he smiled, dodging the remains of another hovercraft. The two men were growing incredibly close during their isolation together, and talked freely on every subject under the sun. It wasn't really for his lack of navigation skills that Wilbur wanted Lewis with him, but purely for the company on the deserted planet. They relied on each other. It became extremely creepy whenever one of them stayed by themselves for longer than a few hours, and neither one had to ask when the other sought out their company for no particular reason.

Wilbur flew over the brown bushes and scrub, glancing every now and then at Lewis, who wasn't moving. "You alright?"

Lewis sat up and rubbed his eyes, shrugging. "I dunno. I guess," he replied in a tired voice, running a hand through his hair. Wilbur rolled his eyes, knowing that his friend was probably thinking about Franny again. His melancholy mood didn't usually last longer than a day, but Wilbur felt utterly clueless as to what to say in these situations.

"So, uhm…" He drawled, casting around for some subject they hadn't yet analysed to death. He was spared coming up with one when the navigator on Lewis' hip started bleeping urgently. Wilbur grinned. "Excellent. Let's see what cool rock is out here."

The hovercraft zipped out towards a dusty red cliff face, and Wilbur just managed to bring it up in time to avoid the long drop and a sudden stop. The view confronting them left both boys utterly speechless.

Spaceships.

Dozens of them. Small escape pods, large battleships, massive mining ships, streamlined gun ships, everything and more. Even though all of them looked to be in some form of disrepair, as well as the obvious hundred years' or so worth of rust and grit coating the machines, the sight was more than impressive.

"Is this the coolest thing you've ever seen, or _what_?!" Wilbur yelled ecstatically, jumping from the hovercraft to gallop down the hill towards the nearest ship. Lewis just sat in the car, grinning broadly, bad attitude suddenly absent.

"Amazing," He breathed, gazing over the spaceships as he unbuckled his seat belt. A noise brought his attention, and he bemusedly watched Wilbur beating his chest and yelling Tarzan-style atop a small pod. It still surprised Lewis how immature his son could act, especially at 22 years of age. What amazed him even more was the undeniable urge to go beat his own chest on top of the largest ship there was. After all, it wasn't every day that you got the means to travel both time, dimension and space.

_End Flashback_

Wilbur brought the hovercraft to a halt, retrieving his sweaty black t-shirt from the backseat and yanking it over his head as Lewis emerged from the massive warehouse they were working in.

"You got everything I asked?"

Wilbur pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket, scanning it shrewdly. "Uhm, except for this thing here I can't read…your handwriting is terrible, by the way…yep." Lewis shook his head in exasperation and began unhitching the trailer.

A whole month on a scorching planet, with limited supplies and a ton of work to get done if they ever wanted out, had changed the two guys in more ways than one. Physically, both had acquired a nice tan, more defined arm muscles from carting all their equipment across the city and hooking it up in the garage, and Lewis' blonde hair was now shoulder length which he tied back off his face. He figured that no one except his son would see him for quite a while, therefore there was no point in cutting it. Wilbur challenged this one morning when he asked why Lewis still bothered to shave, and the indifferent shrug confirmed that he secretly liked the look. Wilbur liked to keep his own shiny black locks trimmed as neatly as possible; he missed his naturally perfect cowlick and tried to compensate every morning by using whatever form of gel he could locate. Emotionally, both men felt drained. Lewis' whole daily routine had been turned inside out and upside down, his fiancé had no idea where he was, and he was starting to doubt he would ever get back to her. Wilbur put on the cool and confident exterior to hide the scared little boy inside who didn't like the horror movie all the grown-ups watched anymore- trusting in his dad to know what's right for him, and how to make the nightmare go away. But Wilbur was starting to question even that; Lewis seemed more withdrawn as each day passed, and their progress was rather slow.

"Wilbur?"

He blinked. "Sorry. What?"

Lewis sighed. "I said, can you help me with this please?" He was holding with some difficulty a large sheet of metal from the trailer.

"Oh. Sure thing," he replied, and together the pair slowly made their way indoors.

Hidden from initial view, barely able to fit in the garage, was their new ship.

It had been Lewis' first choice, because it had the most mechanically sound engine from the lot and wasn't big enough to be a tremendous hassle. Well, it was slightly less hassle than the others. It had taken the better part of three weeks just to get it flight worthy enough to make it into the city, and the trip had been the most exciting experience in each of their lives. Lewis spent every waking moment fixing, repairing, hauling parts, rewiring the controls. It was Wilbur's job to get what Lewis wanted, to where he needed it.

"Nope, over here…"

"Here?"

"Nuh-uh. Left a bit…up, up…I said, UP…"

"I _am_ going up!"

"Good. Whoa, whoa! Let me get out of the way first, moron…"

"I resent that."

"…Yep. That should do it."

"Geez," Wilbur muttered, inspecting his calloused hands while Lewis bolted the metal plate in place.

"I could hear you from in here…yelling like a madman on that hovercraft," Lewis grunted, straining to hold the section in place while he worked on it. Wilbur leaned against the side of their ship, trying to rid his fingernails of this grit underneath.

"What can I say? That thing transforms me."

"Into what, exactly?"

"The primal beast that lurks within." He grinned at Lewis, who raised an eyebrow.

"I probably shouldn't have asked. Now I need your help with the time machine, I think it's wired in to the mainframe correctly, but to make sure I need you to run through the normal drills again." Wilbur nodded, and together they made their way around the side of the ship to the airlock.

Wilbur's other job was to make the interior of the ship as comfortable as possible. Which basically meant cleaning every square inch, top to bottom, every nook and cranny. The ship was roughly the size of a large one-story house, so Lewis had learned early on to ignore Wilbur's constant whinging.

"You missed a spot over there, it's disgusting. And start on the engine room already, puh-lease, I don't want to crawl through spider webs and a trailer load of dust just to turn the darn thing on."

"Why don't you clean it then, if you're so obsessed about it!" Wilbur scowled, kicking a crate as they walked through the main storage bay. Their ship, nicknamed the _DJ_, was meant for assault; twin gun systems were symmetrically lined up on the hull, and numerous other strategic weapons the likes of which Lewis an Wilbur had never seen nor heard of before. It had mechanisms which implied that the _DJ_ was normally housed in some kind of mother ship, launched towards whichever enemy at will. From the burn marks along the sides and underbelly of the ship, the boys guessed it had been taken down in some kind of fight, or war. Wilbur had gleefully jumped around for the better part of a day as he examined the arsenal of weapons at their disposal, until Lewis informed him over lunch that he would never be able to get them up and running. Wilbur looked terrified at the prospect of travelling through space with no means of defence, but it was pretty much their only option. _Some option_, Wilbur grumbled, following Lewis into the bowels of the ship.

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**_A/N: This chapter wasn't originally supposed to end here, but it was just getting so long...yep. Please, if you like it, review. They inspire me and help me and I'll make sure to favourite any author who makes me feel fantastic. The story's only just getting to the good bits, so keep your eyes peeled for my next chapter!_******


	5. Anger

**_A/N: Ok. I seem to be uploading like crazy recently. This chapter contributes almost nothing to the overall storyline, but I wrote it and...yeah. Fluffy. Seems to be what I'm best at. Lol...my friend River4Jayne wants me to get to the Serenity part already, so she can take over, but I'm just itching to keep tapping away at my keyboard. This starts off just where the last chapter ended, and was purely what I thought would have to happen at some point during their isolation. Enjoy, my lovelies._**

* * *

Lewis scaled the metal staircase to the main corridor, which branched off to all sections of the ship.

"We should be ready for our test flight by the end of the week, we'll keep her in orbit while I do some more modifications. You're going to have to know how to fly this thing properly, with or without the guidance of the time machine, in your sleep by then. I don't want to spend any more time here than humanly possible," Lewis called over his shoulder to Wilbur, as he strode towards the control room. Wilbur nodded, even though Lewis couldn't see him. It was a pretty reasonable ask of his time; Lewis fixed the ship, Wilbur helped slightly and figured out how to steer in a straight line.

Wilbur put his hand on the doorway of the control room, his sharp eyes taking in every detail. Lewis had removed the flying components of the time machine- which now rested in a dozen pieces in the lower level- and the mess of equipment sat humming softly with large wires running every which way, clamped to the underside of the ship's command panel. The idea had been Lewis', of course- the entire boat was virtually impossible to fly with a crew of two, and its capabilities too intricate to be operated easily. Lewis had the notion that the flying systems of the time machine could be linked up into the mainframe, and override the _DJ's_ usual controls. Wilbur would then be able to fly the boat almost as skilfully as he drove the time machine. Wilbur himself had to grudgingly admit it was a good idea, and he couldn't wait to test the thing.

Sparks flew occasionally from the circuit breaker on his left, which could explain the minor burns decorating Lewis' upper arms. Directly opposite him was the viewing screen, which allowed the commander's chair a whole 180 degree view of the space in front of him. Right now it offered the boys a less-than-spectacular scene consisting of a mouldy wall, but Wilbur could only imagine the sights one could experience in space.

Lewis was already over at the operations desk, doing who knows what to the controls there.

"Sit down for a minute, no touching _anything_."

Wilbur grinned, and immediately began weaving his way through piles of apparatus to the commander's chair. "Yes sir, capt'n Robinson."

Lewis looked up, and couldn't help but smile at the silly grin on Wilbur's face as he swivelled around childishly. "At ease, Private. You could get promoted if you began reading through those manuals. It took a week to find them so they better get put to use."

Wilbur glanced over at the handheld screen sitting on top of a nearby pile of machinery. Lewis had yet to find an actual book; everything was stored on computer-type devices. It had taken them two days just to change the language setting into English.

"Maybe I'll just sit here and watch you work. It's gonna take ages to read all that junk, I won't even need it from what you've told me. We've got all the time in the world," Wilbur said dismissively. The whole atmosphere of the room changed in an instant. Lewis sat his tool down with a clank, and looked sternly over at his son, head tilted down slightly as if he were looking over his glasses. Even though the action was utterly pointless when wearing contacts, Wilbur recognised the gesture and immediately regretted his words.

"Wilbur."

He gulped. "Sorry. It's just that I figured-"

"You figured wrong. Start reading."

Wilbur huffed. "You can't tell me what to do. I'm a legal adult."

"Listen to me. You-"

"No, you listen to me! I'm sick of you on my back every second! All you've done this whole time is order me around-"

"Look here, I have been busting my ass _ever since we got here_, because unlike someone else in this room, I care about others enough to want to go home-"

"-So do I, but it's only instructions, I can learn as I go-" Wilbur replied indignantly, making an incredulous Lewis even angrier.

"_What?! _This is a spaceship, Wilbur Robinson, you can't just 'respawn' like in a game if we make a fatal mistake-"

"I realise that, but we've always managed to scrape out of sticky situations before-" Wilbur fought back, their voices becoming steadily louder. He wasn't even totally sure what they were arguing about, but all the bottled anger they had been storing during the last month was finally getting some form of release. Lewis looked ready to explode.

"Wilbur, I'm not infallible, and this is technology we've only just got acquainted with! Do you really expect us to succeed on the first 'shot'? This could very well be _a life or death situation_ we're putting ourselves in, and I can't do anything without your help!"

They glared at each other, before Wilbur decided to open his mouth again. Not the wisest decision he'd ever make.

"Stop acting the stupid hero, Lewis. We both know that you're gonna fix this thing so you can get back to your precious fiancée, _Franny_, before she jumps off a cliff from your absence. Just get back to repairing this crap ship, and leave me alone."

Silence.

Lewis stared at his son, trembling with anger. He balled up his fists, opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. He stalked out of the room as Wilbur slapped a hand to his mouth in horror.

"Lewis, don't go- I'm so sorry- please, just-" He apologised weakly, stumbling after his father.

"Shut it, Wilbur. Fix the darn thing yourself if you're such a smart-arse."

"C'mon, you know I can't, I was just kidding around-"

"You should have thought of that earlier."

Wilbur ran after Lewis, who was quickly making his way back through the ship, not looking back. "Just leave me alone. Please."

"But…"

"You mind if I borrow your hover car?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Cool. See you around."

Wilbur stamped his foot into the ground immaturely, watching his best mate round the corner into the sweltering sunlight outside. _Good one, Wilbur! _He thought angrily, kicking a crate with his hands in his pockets. _All you had to do was keep your fat mouth shut…or read the darn manuals…or stop the argument before it got out of hand…_ He ran a hand through his hair, pacing around in a circle as he bit his lip. _Now you've touched a nerve, you don't know where he is, when he's gonna come back, and this boat still hasn't moved an inch. Bloody fantastic._

Wilbur groaned, sitting down heavily on the box and putting his head in his hands. He was utterly sick of this planet, this reality, wherever it was. And the only chance he had of escaping had just gone walkabout. Getting up, Wilbur made a grim decision. He sprinted back through the Scout ship, throwing himself in the commander's chair. He glared at the accursed manual. _Prove to him that you won't let him down…he needs this more than you, Wil. It's just a book, no matter how large the file size happens to be. Get over it. _Reaching out a hand, Wilbur grasped the handheld monitor and tapped it on.

* * *

Lewis rubbed a hand over his face, drained of all emotion as he began to apply the brakes, coasting back into town. The fresh sun was just starting to rise over the horizon, and already mirages were forming over the flat red plains. His anger was fully pent out, his bloodied knuckles and a mangled dead tree a few kilometres away bearing as proof. Lewis came to a halt outside their warehouse, hoping that Wilbur would forgive him for his outburst .

"Wil?" He called uneasily, stepping from the 'craft and shutting the door firmly. It still creeped him out when the slightest noise tended to echo around the walls of the run-down city. Hearing no response, Lewis slowly made his way back into the ship, concerned about his son's whereabouts.

"Wilbur? Look, I'm really sorry, I should know you better, and I expect way too much of you most of the time," Lewis began, talking to the high ceilings as he crept up towards the control tower. "And I know that you feel as much loathing towards this wretched planet as me…" Lewis stepped into the room, looking around cautiously. He stopped mumbling when he spotted the commander's chair. Wilbur was slouched over it, screen turned on in his lap, and it was obvious he'd fallen asleep while reading.

"Wilbur?" He whispered, creeping over to his son. Gently prising the computer from his hands, Lewis smiled when he saw the last so called 'page' flickering on the screen. "You're just like your mother. Stubborn as heck, but I love you for it. You're forgiven," Lewis told the unconscious boy, and busied himself with the cables again.

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**_Just a filler chapter, will get technical very soon. Hope you liked! Not my best writing, but I'm tired and full of review ecstasy. All you lovely people, you know who you are. XD _**


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